A Bruising Love
by The Homunculi Twins
Summary: Jou has a secret that not even Yugi knows about. Surprisingly enough, so does Seto. What happens when the street-smart Jonouchi and the hot-headed CEO Kaiba end up locked in a bathroom for days? Will romance blossom? Or will their hatred for each other rise to its peak? REPOST FROM OLD VER! R&R! Eventual Puppyshipping NO FLAMERS T for now
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! Welcome to **'A Bruising Love''s** Repost!_ **Sorry it took so long, but we had to basically rewrite this from scratch.** _We hope you enjoy, and wish to say; WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!_ **For those who are in school; we dont start until Wed but watever. ** _So enough chitchat!_ _**Read, Review, and Enjoy :D**_

**Title: **A Bruising Love

**Author: **The Homunculi Twins aka Greed of the Homunculi

**Beta: **None

**Genre:** Romance, Hurt, Angst

**Rating:** M for safety

**Spoilers: **Yu-Gi-Oh Episode's 43-45; Legendary Hero's Parts 1-3, Episode 22-24 Duelist Kingdom Yugi vs Seto

**Pairings: **Eventual Puppyshipping. Hinted Puzzle, Bronze, Tender, and Chaseshipping.

**Summary:** Jou has a secret that not even Yugi knows about. Surprisingly enough, so does Seto. What happens when the street-smart Jou and the hot-headed CEO Kaiba end up locked in a bathroom for days? Will romance blossom? Or will their hatred for each other rise to its peak?

**Disclaimer: **The Homunculi Twins don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! We do not make a profit from these writings, we do it because its fun.

**Claimer:** The Homunculi Twins own the plot, Asuka, Judai, and Jun Fujiwara, Dr. Daichi. You try to steal, we will destroy your asses.

**Rating:** PG-13 for language

**Warning:** yaoi, child abuse, mention of rape, and language. Also, Jou speaking big words that hurts brain

"Talking"

'_Thought'_

_Letter_

_Book/Magazine Titles_

_**F**lashbacks- **s**tart and **e**nd_

**WARNING! THIS STORY IS MOSTLY IN 'FLASHBACK' MODE, SAVE FOR THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER, AND HALFWAY THROUGH CHAPTER TEN OR SO! **

**Chapter One**

~The Result of Not Studying~

It was Friday morning, though to sixteen year old Jounouchi Katsuya, he could really care less. For the first time since he started school, the honey blonde was _early_; pencils, pens, notebook, and two weeks worth of homework sitting innocently atop the wooden desk, normally mischievous golden eyes were staring dully out the window at the sakura trees that were just beginning to blossom in the spring weather. School wasn't supposed to start for another fifteen, twenty minutes, which caused his sensei and the few early birds were glancing over at the blonde in concern and wariness, though he easily ignored their stares. He rested his head in his hand and sighed. It had almost been a month since the indecent that had affected him dearly, consuming his thoughts and dreams with neither with fear nor guilt, but with the love for a fellow student and the most unlikely person of all.

The dim light from the still to weak sun broke through the grey clouds, trying to cover the land in its warmth; however winter had only ended two weeks before, and snow still covered the streets and cars of Domino, Japan. Jou closed his eyes for a moment or two, trying to catch up on some of the sleep he had lost since the _incident_. He soon drifted off to a world of memories that possessed his thoughts with viciousness that sometimes scared even him.

**~†º.º.º†~**

_**I**__t had all started a month earlier_, a dull Friday morning once again. The sun hidden by thick, heavy clouds filled with perspiration and snow, even though Domino had well over six inches of snow in the past three days alone. Today was the last day of school before semester break, where everyone would get a chance to spend a week goofing off. Inside the school where five teens talking away the last few minutes before class began; one of which was a messy haired blonde scowling at his white haired friend.

"Iie, Ryou, there ain't any possible answer fir number fifty-four," the blonde grunted angrily pointing at said question in his math book.

"Jou-kun, I reassure you, there is a possible answer," the English exchange student said exasperatedly; the albino trying his best to convince his blonde haired friend, but was failing epically.

"Ryou, I h've tried e'ery damn way I can think o', but dar ain't no answer!" Jou moaned in despair, glaring at the innocent looking piece of paper lying on his desk. Ryou sighed and rubbed his temples, before reaching over and snatching the blonde boy's pencil.

"I'm going to explain this once, and only once, alright Jou-kun? If you still don't get it, ask Uzu-sensei," Bakura Ryou said. Jou nodded eagerly, his golden eyes sparkling with gratefulness.

"Ok, a = 5, d = 12 and n = 60. Sn = n/2 [2a (n - 1)d] that's your standard formula, so all you have to do is-" As Ryou continued to 'attempt' to explain the 'easy' question to the frustrated blonde the classroom door opened, revealing the always stoic CEO of Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba Seto. His cerulean blue eyes scanned over the room quickly even as he made his way over to his desk at the far end of the classroom.

"Ohayo Kaiba-san." Mutou Yugi called cheerfully, smiling at the scowling teen. Out of all his friends, he was the smallest of them –his Jii-san said it was a curse that had been placed on _his_ father's father's side of the family a few hundred years ago- with the most unique hair to boot. Golden blond bangs framed his face perfectly, creating the image of an innocent child; his black and red hair stuck up like a starfish, adding an extra five inches to his short statue of four foot seven. His eyes were a deep amethyst color that seemed to change colors whenever the light hit them, changing from plain violet to sometimes the deepest aubergine that caused most of the girls in their class to coo at the sight.

Kaiba nodded to the teen stiffly, his dark cerulean eyes flickering over in Yugi's direction before taking his seat and ignoring the rest of his year mates. Mentally, Jou rolled his eyes at the brunet, though for Yugi's sake, he wouldn't say anything to the stuck up stick-up-his-ass elder Kaiba. Everyone in the class –likely the whole school as well- knew that the only reason why Kaiba Seto even _acknowledged_ the petite teen was because of A.) Yugi being the current King of Games and B.) he and his Jii-chan run a local Game Shop that sold a lot of Kaiba Corps –Kaiba's company that specialized in games- products.

Having to run a multi-billion dollar company that required his constant attention was difficult, Jou would give the brunet that. Kaiba usually attended school on Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday, giving him four or five days for school work and managing his company. And according to Anzu, there were rumors going around saying that the CEO was also attending a few online courses for College at the same time as attending school.

The only reason why the teen was even here, when he was at school last Friday, was because Yami –at Yugi's persistence- called the brunet up and informed him that they had a math end of semester exam today that was worth half their grade.

'_Rich people,'_ Jou scowled silently before returning his attention to his British friend.

"Alright, so do you get it now Jou-kun?" Ryou asked patiently. The blonde chewed on his pencil absently, his eyes scanning over the work Ryou had done, before realization light up in his eyes.

"So da answers three t'ousand-five 'undred-forty, right?" Ryou nodded energetically, his chocolate brown eyes lighting up with delight.

"Hai, that's correct Jou-kun! See, I knew you could do it!" Jou grinned and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "So do you know what you were doing wrong?"

At Jou's blank look, Ryou explained, "In order for you to understand the problem, you have to understand what you were doing wrong, so incase you do it again, you can know what you can do to fix it."

"Oh, dat makes sense. Ummm…was it because I was forgetting to divide sixty instead of multiply it?"

"Hai, very good Jou-kun!"

"How are you today Kaiba-san? Are you ready for the test?," Yugi questioned, trying to break the ice between him and the teenaged CEO. The petite teen was a social bug; making friends and becoming an archeologist like his grandpa and parents were his life's dream. To possibly make Kaiba a friend would just fill his little heart with joy.

"Yes," Kaiba replied icily, not even looking up from his laptop to acknowledge the tri-colored teen. Yugi was honestly surprised that he even got a simple 'yes' from the brunet; normally he didn't even say a single word to the class, not unless he had to give an oral report.

"Well that's good! Good luck on the exam," Yugi cheerfully said. Kaiba's eyes briefly flickered over to the still struggling Jou, who –fortunately- didn't notice the glance, before returning his attention to his laptop.

"Luck is for the weak."

That was the last thing he said until the end of school.

**~†º.º.º†~**

When the final bell rang at the end of the school day, a wave of students scurried out of the building, many chatting and making plans to hang out during break.

Jou waved to his friends in farewell as they all grabbed their bags and left. They would have offered to stay, but each of them had appointments that they couldn't miss. Anzu had work, Honda a dentist appointment, Ryou went to airport to pick up Ryou's father, and Yugi had promised to help his Jii-chan with some shipments that were coming into the shop. Their sensei had asked Jou to stay after class, wanting to help the struggling blonde out and to congratulate him on the higher grade he'd gotten.

A thirty-nine out of one-hundred fifteen; the best score he's had since he started this math class. Thank Kami their math teacher was a patient woman and would allow him to redo his test. He just had to attend a few make-up lessons every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday once break was done. He could do that.

Hopefully.

After smoothing out the details for the extra lessons with Anko-sensei, Jou cheerfully packed his bag and left the classroom, smiling as he did so. Maybe he'd be able to get his dream job if all of his teachers were like Anko-sensei. Jou shook his head at the thought; ninety percent of the teachers at Domino High thought he was a no good punk in a gang that didn't deserve there time and patience. _'Bastards,'_ Jou thought angrily to himself as he made a quick detour to the men's bathroom.

Nudging the door open enough to let him slip inside the tiled bathroom, nodding in appreciation when he noticed no one inside the room. There was just something about going to the bathroom in front of people that set the blonde on edge and made him feel uncomfortable. He had a hard enough time changing in front of the other guys during gym; going to the bathroom was terrible. Thank kami that there were stalls in the guy's bathroom as well. Picking the cleanest urinal –just because guys didn't pee like girls didn't mean they didn't like a clean urinal- he quickly relieved himself, sighing in relief as his bladder emptied itself.

Once he was done, he quickly zipped up his pants, flushed the urinal, and went to wash his hands when he heard one of the stalls toilets flush. Jumping in shock, Jou spun around blinking when he saw the eldest Kaiba stepping out of the stall.

Except for himself, a few teachers, and the janitor, he didn't think anyone else would still be in the school, I mean it was Friday.

Kaiba paused when he noticed the blonde staring at him, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips, before choosing to ignore the teen in favor of washing his hands.

"Are you just going to stand there staring at me, or are you going to finish your business and leave?" Kaiba drawled, startling Jou, who blinked again and flushed slightly.

"Shut up Kaiba-teme," Jou muttered, going to the farthest sink to wash his hands. Scowling, Jou glared at the soap dispenser when he noticed it was empty. Checking the other dispenser, Jou mentally groaned when he noticed that only Kaiba's was filled with soap. The thought of just leaving without washing his hands flittered through his mind, before it was quickly discarded. Not only would that be gross and unsanitary, it would also make the elder Kaiba start calling him even _more_ names besides those of the 'mutt, puppy, dog' etc. names that Jou _so_ despised. Sighing again, Jou went to the only available soap disposer, steadfastly ignoring the brunet, who glanced at him when he squirted the soap onto his hands.

He quickly returned back to his sink, turning the water on as hot as it could be scrubbing his hands together.

"Well, glad to know that you at least know _some_ sanitary measures," Kaiba stated as he turned his own sink off. Jou snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Gee, did de _great_ Kaiba Seto ju't 'ive me a com'lement? Kami, I think I'm gonna die!" Jou faked swooned, causing Kaiba to glare at the mutt.

"At least _I_ speak proper Japanese, unlike your botched up sentences, mutt," Kaiba drawled. Jou spun around to glare at the elder teen, eyes narrowing.

"Oi, ju't cau'e I speak a 'iffe'ent way den ya don't mean ya can make fun o' me teme!" Jou growled. Kaiba shook his head.

"And that proves my point right there. You can't even say 'different' correctly; you botch up every word you say." Kaiba said mockingly. "Now, repeat after me, 'dif-fer-ent'. Can you say that mutt?"

"Shut up!"

"Gomen, but that's the wrong word mutt. I think you need to get your ears checked. Oh wait; you probably can't afford it, can you?"

Jou growled, his fists clenching in anger as Kaiba continued to try to teach him 'proper Japanese'. "Shut da fuck up Kaiba! You 'ave no ri'ht ta make fun o' da way I speak!"

"Sadly, we're in the same class mutt. I have another two years going to school here, which means another two years with _you_. I would rather not be here, but the government and I have a compromise; I go to school, I get to run my company without a parent and/or guardian. If I have to deal with you, I would rather you speak proper Japanese, mutt." Kaiba explained, looking down at his nails in a bored fashion.

Jou's eyes narrowed. He could feel his control slipping. "Fuck you Kaiba!" Jou growled, storming past the elder teen to the leave the bathroom. Grabbing the handle, Jou tried to wrench the door open.

Tried being the keyword.

"OUCH!" Jou cried out, placing a hand on his now throbbing shoulder while frowning at the door. It hadn't budged. "Fucking mother fucker, open up!" Jou growled, reaching with his other hand to open the door. Again, the door didn't move.

"I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were this stupid mutt. Not even to open a simple door." Kaiba tsked, walking up to the blonde haired teen and shoving him aside. Grabbing the handle, Kaiba pulled on the door, frowning when it didn't move for him again. Pulling on the door handle again, Kaiba felt his eye twitch, before pushing on the door.

Again, it didn't open.

He blinked and pushed on the door once more.

"What the hell?" He pushed on the door a number of times, wondering if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. In a final attempted he ran up and hit the door with his shoulder. It still wouldn't open.

"Kuso!" Jou cursed, realization settling in when he noticed the time. "The Janitor's locked it!"

"They don't lock the doors until five-forty dumbass," Kaiba said, tugging on the handle again. Jou put his wrist up to Kaiba's face, allowing him to see the slightly banged up, but still in working condition watch.

"It's past five-forty Kaiba."

Kaiba stared at the watch for a second, before groaning. "Damn it all to hell! This is all your fault mutt!"

"Kaiba, ju't shut up! I'm not a mutt. So do us bot' a fa'or an' get dat 'hrough yer 'hick skull! An' how is dis my fault?" Jou demanded.

"For coming in here and getting into an argument, that's how mutt!"

"Hey! Like dey say in America; it takes two ta tango teme!" Jou snapped angrily. Taking a deep breath, Jou quickly asked, "So, how da hell we getting' out o' here?"

Kaiba sighed. "Mokuba made me leave my phone at home, and I'm pretty sure you don't have one, so calling someone is out of the question. My laptop is out of life as well, so we until the Janitor comes back to clean the classrooms."

"And when's that?"

"Monday evening."

Jou groaned and kicked the door in frustration. He couldn't believe this. Out of all the people in the world, he was stuck in the boy's washroom for the weekend with Kaiba Seto. The _same_ Kaiba Seto that enjoys kicking and belittling him; who forced Yugi, his best buddy, to loose the duel in the Pegasus tournament by making him choose between winning or making Kaiba jump off of a cliff; who's a cold, emotionless bastard to all but his little brother.

_'Great... what did I do ta deserver dis?_

**~†º.º.º†~**

_So how was it my loveliess? _**Hope you enjoyed! Its not the original, but its as close as we could get it. **_So! Please review; Yami and I love love LOVE your reviews :D. **Bye bye now!**_

_Greed **and **_**Yami**


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello everyone! __***ducks rotten tomatoes and a chainsaw* **_**Erkk...we're sorry? *ducks couch* **_GAH! STOP THROWING THINGS! We're really sorry that we forgot about this story, and that we promised you guys updates almost six months ago!_ **Really! We are! Life got in the way again! **_So...in return, we have this chapter for you :D_ **And hopefully another chapter either later today or tomorrow. **_**So...enjoy?**_

**Disclaimer: **The Homunculi Twins don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! We do not make a profit from these writings, we do it because its fun.

**Claimer: **The Homunculi Twins own the plot, Asuka, Judai, and Jun Fujiwara, Dr. Daichi. You try to steal, we will destroy your asses.

**~†º.º.º†~**

**Chapter Two:**

After many hours of arguments, Jou and Kaiba accepted the harsh reality that they were going to be stuck in the washroom together for the weekend and, already, they had claimed their territory in the small cramped room. Kaiba sat, leaning against the tiled wall; his brown hair brushing against the bottom of the hand dryer, as Jou sat nearest to the door. It had been at least an hour or two and none of them even said a single word to each other.

While Kaiba thought of what meetings he would be missing, Jou mumbled to himself; he hated this more than anything he could imagine, well maybe not, it was better then what would happen when he finally got home. The second hand on Kaiba's watch endlessly recorded the time in a never-ending beat. Kaiba sighed and closed his eyes, catching up on some lost sleep over the past week or two. Jou stood up and ferociously kicked the door then knocking the garbage can over, spilling empty pop cans, wrappers, plastic utensils, and pieces of paper with low test scores marked in red ink on them.

"Damn it!" He shouted in a burst of anger, then ran his hand through his blond locks and began pacing back and forth.

"Cursing and breaking things won't solve anything, but for a dog I guess it's the only solution."

"Damn it Kaiba I told you to fuck off and stop calling me that! I am not a fucking street mutt." He was about to loose it, he could feel him loosing his cool, clenching his fist ready to punch the crap out of that pretty face of Kaiba's. Kaiba didn't respond to him, it was stupid to argue with Jou when he was like this no matter how entertaining it was to watch him go off. Jou just spat and turned his head. 'Great, as if being stuck in here with this prick doesn't mean I've been through enough.' He then grabbed a stall door and slammed it to get rid of the last bit of anger that surged through his veins.

"Are you done violating yet? If not then I'd suggest you stop, this WILL be our new home until the janitor gets back." He looked at his icy blue metallic watch.

Eight fifty-two pm.

It was going to be a long night.

An hour passed until Jou had another one of hit fits. "Will you shut up and stop your whining!"

Kaiba's voice was filled with annoyance; obviously he had had enough of the slightly younger teen's temper tantrums.

"You're not the only one pissed off by the situation. So if you're just going to through random fits then I suggest you get on the floor and start crying and pounding the floor while kicking your feet like any immature child does when he doesn't get his way!"

No sooner had he spoke those words, his head hit the side of the wall after making contact his Jou's fist.

"Shut up. Just SHUT. UP!"

Kaiba leapt to his feet and easily pushed the shorter boy into the wall holding him by the scruff of the jacket. Jou kicked his foot against Kaiba's shin, easily bruising the bone. It obviously hurt like hell, judging from the hiss of pain that passed across the young CEO's face, but Kaiba Seto was not one to surrender to a blow like that. With determination raging in his eyes like a forest fire in California, United States, Kaiba kneed the blonde in the stomach with all his strength, feeling as the muscles coiled at the impact. He was hoping that the blow would knock the mutt out and he would, finally, get some peace and quiet for a few hours.

Instead he got the opposite.

Jou released a blood curdling scream of pure agony, his topaz eyes filling with tears and sweat rolled down his forehead. Lean, though muscular arms encircled his stomach in a protective manner, his head slamming into Kaiba's shoulder. Kaiba felt a little panicked, though he did not show it, when he heard Jou gasping for air, similar to a person who had nearly drowned.

Wide eyed, Kaiba looked down at the shuddering blonde, whose eyes were closed tightly in pain, rivers of tears following unhindered out of his eyes; a soft, painful whimper escaped the blonde's throat. There he was, a short tempered street boy, with a strong back ally attitude that showed his softer kinder side only to his friends, now looking almost eerily similar to a kicked puppy, yelping and keening in pain.

Pure pain.

Kaiba's mind swarmed with confusion as he watched the teen hide his amber eyes in his shoulder, which were now soaked with the blonde's tears as he held his stomach almost desperately, gasping and sobbing, with the occasional cough in between.

"Jounouchi?" he asked, slightly timidly.

Jou froze when he heard the brunet's voice, and mentally began to curse himself and the CEO for his sudden weakness. He wasn't supposed to be crying like a damn girl into his arch-enemy's shoulder!

Jou took in a deep, shuddering breath as he slowly, but firmly, pushed on Kaiba's other shoulder to help steady him as he attempted to move away from the confused and slightly concerned CEO. It didn't work, however; he hadn't even released Kaiba's shoulders for more than a few seconds, before his legs turned into jell-o and he collapsed into a painful heap on the floor. He hissed in discomfort at the sudden movement that jarred many of his wounds that had previously been just fine.

_'Damn it all ta 'ell.'_ Jou thought bitterly to himself, resting his head against the cool floor. His eye flew open in shock and surprise when he felt Kaiba's hands on his biceps, thankfully just missing some of the other painful bruises, and the nasty cut on his left arm.

"Wha-?" was all he was able to get out in a raspy croak that hurt almost as bad as his stomach, before he was rolled over onto his back. He grimaced in pain at the sudden movement and the sharp pain that radiated along his back. Jou heard shuffling to his right side and re-opened his eyes, absently wondering when he'd closed them again, to stare at Kaiba, who was kneeling down besides him with...concern?... on his face.

"Are you all right?" Jou couldn't talk, even if he wanted to; which he didn't. The pain was just too much, radiating from all over. Kaiba took the silence as a '_No_'. He looked down to the boy's stomach and a thought -or was it a memory?- flickered through his mind. Jou, holding his stomach in pain after their first brawl, just before they got locked in. He took his hand and lifted Jou's shirt, allowing him to see why he ached so much. Jou, naturally, protested to Kaiba doing that, but he was in no situation to argue or fight, he could hardly even breathe. He didn't want Kaiba to see his body; he knew the young CEO would just scowl at him more in disgust. He got enough of that at home, he didn't need it from _him_. Kaiba lifted the boy's shirt and his cold blue eyes widened in shock.

Bruises.

Cuts.

Scars

Everywhere on the youth's stomach; more could be seen littering his slightly muscular chest, underneath his pants and around to the other side.

"D-d-d-don't l-look" Jou gasped, wincing in pain. Even though it was only two words, it still hurt like hell to say them. Kaiba didn't even notice he said anything; he was too much in shock at the sight of his body. Jou's rich, tanned skinned seemed to be infected in black and violet spots in all sizes, when he noticed the largest one. Right at the belly button, was a large black blotch, right were he hit him in the first squabble they had. He knew that he had hit Jou then, but not hard enough to inflict a bruise as brutal as the one before him.

"K-K-Kaiba..."

"Shut up. You're not in the condition to protest me being this close to you. I know you despise me with everything you've got, and the feeling is mutual, but right now we have to put those feelings aside. You are in need of medical attention, but due to the fact that we're stuck in here, I'm the only option. So stay still and shut up, and take off your shirt."

Jou was so surprised, he easily complied to the CEO's demand. He could hear Kaiba's cold tone as clear as day, but he could also detect something else. Though it was small and hard to notice, he could tell that Kaiba was...worried about _him_.

He watched as the taller teen pursed his lips in displeasure at the sight of the rest of his chest, before opening his briefcase, pullinh out a spare shirt, tearing the sleeve off and dampening it with cold water, before placing it on Jou's bruises. The cold made Jou shiver at first then relaxed as it numbed the pain down a touch. He didn't know why Kaiba was being so nice to him; he thought that he was only human around Mokuba. Apparently that was not the case.

He watched through lidded eyes as Kaiba ripped up more of his shirt and placed them on the worse bruises, before examining one of the more red looking cuts on his chest. This one was the deepest, though not the longest, going from his left collar bone and down in a slight diagonal angle, about four inches long. He poked and prodded at the open wound, noting where it hurt the worse, before placing another cloth onto it.

With one more look to make sure he didn't miss anything, Kaiba nodded in satisfaction.

"Tell me when the water's warmed up," he said as he took his place next to Jou and sat there, using the bottom of the counter as a headrest. Jou didn't know what to say; he was completely and utterly surprised and shocked, and more than a little baffled, at what just happened. One minute they were fighting, ready to kill each other. The next...Kaiba was tending to his well being. What changed? What altered to make Kaiba so kind, so... so... dare he say or think it, gentle? He felt the pain starting to vanish and soon disappear all together.

Sighing, he felt himself giving into sleep, the one thing that Jou could call both angelic and demonic. To fall into a peaceful sleep was wonderful but terrifying if it involved dreams. Jou couldn't remember the last time he had a wonderful dream. He yawned.

"If you're tired, sleep." Jou snorted at the comment and turned to look at the CEO Kaiba.

"Like ya do dat a lot yerself."

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I? Running a company means you stay up late and get up before the sun has a chance to rise, in some cases you just don't have time for it."

"So why don' ya go ta sleep fir't, ya've obviously 'aven' 'ad enough. Hm, probably why ye're so grouchy all da time." Jou smiled at his own joke. Kaiba just grunted and rolled his eyes, turning back to the book he had pulled out of his bag.

There was silence for a short time, only interrupted by Kaiba turning a page and Jou's yawning, when...

"Yo Kai, time."

"My name is not Kai, it's Kaiba, and its ten twenty pm."

"Oh let up Kai, it's not like it means anyt'ing bad."

"True, however, it is not my name."

"Gomen. Just trying ta lighten up da mood if ya don't mind." Jou crossed his arm and flinched; he had forgotten about his bruises and the damp cloths that used to be a shirt that now littered his chest. Kaiba shook his head in exasperation.

"Baka. If you don't apply pressure it won't hurt."

"Oi, who asked ya." Jou snapped. Kaiba rolled his eyes again -he really needed to stop. CEO's of a powerful gaming company did _not_ roll their eyes; the mutt was becoming himself again, getting angered easily and ready to pick a fight. He smiled lightly, though Jou never noticed it as his eyes were closed before getting up to wet the cloth for the blond teen again for the next few hours.

It was around eleven pm when the teenagers finally fell asleep.

**~†º.º.º†~**

_**"Y**__OU STUPID BASTARD!" A tall man with shaggy, shoulder length dirty blonde hair and drunken, hard brown eyes shouted, striking the cowering child below him with a closed fist. The small child smashed into the closet door on contact, tears and a few traces of blood stained his face, a small cry of pain escaping from his bloody lips._

_"Otou-san... Gomen nasai. Please stop. D-don't hit me. G-gomaen nasai..."_

_"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" the man yelled, smacking the child again, spittle flying out of his mouth. "IT'S YOUR FAULT EILEEN LEFT US AND TOOK YOUR SISTER!"_

_"G-gomen nasai Otou-san." The boy was no older then seven, his amber eyes filled with tears; his blond hair had some hints of pink, the result of his hand brushing against his own blood. His left arm dangled lifeless while his right held it. He tried to wipe away any blood that escaped from the cut on his chin and lips with his shoulder._

_"YOU'RE NOTHING! YOU'RE NOT SORRY! SHUT UP AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES!" The man lifted the boy and threw him onto the counter, breaking some of the glass dishes that lay across the ground, which left gashes in the youth's back. He screamed in pain; his father was never so violent before. Was it his fault? Was he the reason that his mother had separated and taken his sister with her? Or was it the strong smell of alcohol that lingered on his father's breath and in the house? He was just a child; he didn't know which one it was. All he knew that his father was hurting him. His arm dislocated and in extreme pain, he tried to get up. He wasn't paying attention to what his father was doing. As soon as he got on his knees a dark shadow came upon him. A fist closed in on h__**im...**_

**~†º.º.º†~**

"NO! DON'T! DON'T TOUCH ME! STOP IT! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

Kaiba had been sleeping peacefully, when Jou's screams had started. He had jumped to his feet, confused at first. Was Mokuba hurt? Did someone try to break in? Only when another scream sounded did Kaiba realize that he wasn't at Kaiba Mansion -at this he swore- and that it was _Jou _who was screaming.

_'What did the mutt do now?' _Kaiba thought irritably. His mood instantly changed when he heard what Jou was screaming. And now, here he was, CEO of one of the biggest companies in the world, trying to restrain a thrashing, screaming teenage boy.

"Jou.. J-JOUNOUCHI!" Kaiba shouted, trying in vain to awaken the blonde. "JOU! KATSUYA!"

He shook the boy roughly as a final resort. Jou's eye shot open, soaked with tears of fright and remembered pain. Topaz eyes flickered around, scanning his surroundings in a daze.

Noticing the hands that had a firm strong grip on his shoulders, he looked up to Kaiba, meeting cold cerulean to warm amber.

"K...K...Kaiba? Wha... wha..." he breathed heavily and looked around to see where he was again. "It's OK Jou, you're here. Do you remember? You and I are locked in the boy's washroom for the weekend... calm down, no one's going to hurt you."

"Kaiba?"

"What?" Jou just stared, gazing into the eyes of the one holding him and weirdly enough he felt something, he felt...safe.

"It-It's not'ing."

"Are you sure?" Jou nodded.

"What..." Kaiba looked down knowing it was rude to ask personal questions but he just had to know. He was learning so much about Jou every minute he had spent with him, he just wanted to know more.

"What were you dreaming about?" Jou froze. He couldn't tell him, not anyone, what his dream was about. He didn't want people to know that his father was abusing him at home. It was just...unthinkable.

"'m tired" was all he could think to say to get out of answering that question. Kaiba softened his grip and nodded; obviously this was something the street youth did not want to share with anyone, especially him. Kaiba would respect his choice, even if it vexed him to not know.

He let go of the blond and sat down beside him. Jou's body started to shake, either because he as cold, or if he was going into a small state of shock, Kaiba didn't know. He did know, however, that the cold sweat that coated his lean, and obviously abused body didn't help much. Jou rubbed his arms, hoping it would warm him up a bit when he felt something warm and long covering his whole body. He opened his eyes to see Kaiba's trench coat laid on top of him. He looked over to Kaiba.

Kaiba leaned up against the counter and held himself; the cold floor tiles made it even harder for him to stay warm. He let out a sigh if exhaustion, when he felt something lean up against him. He turned his head to see Jou fast asleep. The warmth that came from the boy's body was more then welcome. He shifted and held the boy in his arms; body heat was a main key in surviving in the cold, and they were in a place where some survival rules were in need. He yawned and laid one hand on the boy's head, stroking once as in act of comfort before drawing into the black curtain of sleep.

**~†º.º.º†~**

**So how was it? **_Good? Bad? Needs to be destroyed?_ ** Please review and tell us what you think!**

**_Love,_  
**

**_The Homunculi Twins  
_**


	3. And the Winner is

Dear Readers of [_insert fanfiction story name here_];

Hi everyone! The Homunculi Twins here. So this isn't an update like you guys are most likely hoping for, so first of, we want to apologize.

Second off, the results of our poll are in! And the winner is...

**DIMMING LIGHT! ***confetti gets thrown into air, winning music gets played*

Whoa! Thanks so much for voting everyone! We'll try to have an update in about two weeks, now that we have a story to focus on.

Here is the official **Update List**. The **Update List **has: The Anime/Cartoon/Movie category, the title, and how many votes it has. There were a two sets of ties (underlined) in the voting, so we just put the ties in alphabetical order.

* * *

**OFFICIAL UPDATE LIST:**

_Yu-Gi-Oh!:_ 'Dimming Light' –** 63**

_Naruto:_ 'Uzumaki Revenge' –** 33**

_Yu-Gi-Oh!:_ 'Angels and Demons: A Twisting Love' –** 32**

_Transformers - BayVerse:_ 'Eden' – **29**

_Bleach:_ 'Red Sky Betrayal' – **28**

_Transformers - Animated:_ 'Queen Bee' – **28**

_Transformers - BayVerse:_ 'More than Meets the Eye' – **25**

_Avengers - MovieVerse:_ 'Hell Hath no Fury Like a Woman Scorned' – **19**

_Transformers - Animated:_ 'Surrogate Mother' – **16**

_Yu-Gi-Oh!:_ 'A Bruising Love' – **16**

_Transformers - BayVerse:_ 'Children of the AllSpark' –** 15**

_Fullmetal Alchemist/Yu-Gi-Oh!:_ 'Heavenly Sins' – **6**

* * *

We will be updating in this _exact_ order (Most votes to Least votes). We're sorry if this isn't very cool of us, but this will help us focus our muse more towards our stories.

Once again, thanks so much for voting, all **184** of you! (This number also includes those who PM'd us their votes, or left it in their reviews.) To all **85** of the people who put us on their **Favorites**, thank you! To all of the **74** people who put us on their **Alerts**, thank you as well!

We hope that you will continue supporting us, and that you continue to read all of our stories!

With love;

Sapphire and Elizabeth


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